>> This would reduce the price of the radios...
>> by about $20 per radio making them affordable
>> by all amateurs throughout the world.
>> There would then be much rejoicing.
>I donno. Changing the price of a $639 radio to $619 probably will be
>unnoticed by just about everyone that I know of.
And radios these days are FULL of unique chips that if the chip MFR stops
producing the chip, then the radio production ends. The TH-D7, best APRS
radio ever sold (while in production), had to cease production due to the
lack of a $2 chip. Actually just a transistor chip with no substitutes!
Of course that was good news to ham users since it led to the new TH-D72.
Bob, WB4APR